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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Cleveland School of the Arts Demolition Begins

Two and a half years ago — at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year — students at one of the Cleveland Metropolitan School district’s highest performing schools, the School of the Arts, were moved into temporary quarters in an old junior high at 107th and Superior. This was to prepare for the demolition of the school on Stearns Road across from the Case campus to make way for a snazzy new building. Last week the demolition begun; soon the dreary 1910 brick building, built as an elementary school, will be rubble. The facility was in such deplorable condition — with leaks, crumbling walls and ceilings, erratic heating, and peeling paint — that at one point more than a decade ago, it was threatened with closure. The only thing cheerful about the building’s dark, dated interior was the attitude of the students.

Originally, the students were expected to be displaced for three years but now the new building is slated to open for the 2014-2015 school year. Sophomores and juniors are out of luck, but at least freshmen and younger students have something to look forward to, shown in the banner below on display at the school site. — Anastasia Pantsios